The board is composed of an 8 x 8 grid of 64 equal squares alternately light and dark (Art. 2.1); The board is placed so that the near corner square to the right of each player is light (Art. 2.1); The eight vertical columns are files; the eight horizontal rows are ranks
Why people argue about this
People often assume that the orientation of the board doesn't matter as long as it's set up correctly, but in fact, the official FIDE rules specify a precise way the board must be placed: with light squares at each player’s near corner, and they place vertical files (columns) and horizontal ranks accordingly. This detail is crucial for determining which pieces move where during gameplay.
